Home / Privatization

Aug 20, 2010 03:20 PM

Toronto’s municipally owned and operated ski hills will remain open for another season, city council has decided.

CUPE Local 79, which represents ski and snowboard instructors, blew the whistle last March on budget decisions that were being made behind closed doors. Those decisions included selling or leasing assets such as the city’s two ski hills at Earl Bales Park and Centennial Park.

The city did approach private operators to take over the ski hills, but there was no interest. City council voted in August to keep the hills open for at least another year because, said Councillor Janet Davis, skiing and snowboarding are accessible to everyone, not just “rich kids.” The city’s welcome policy means low-income families pay less to use the facilities.

In a deputation to the city’s executive committee prior to the council meeting, CUPE Local 79 president Ann Dembinski said the city must do some serious marketing of the facilities and not just rely on employees to spread the word.

“These centres could be sustainable and profitable even if they were given a minimal amount of promotion,” said Dembinski.

Home / Communications Branch

Aug 20, 2010 03:06 PM

Burnaby, BC —Today’s ruling by BC Supreme Court Chief Justice Robert Bauman that the anti-HST initiative petition and accompanying legislation are legal clears the way for Premier Gordon Campbell and the BC Liberal government to respect the wishes of British Columbians and recall the Legislature for a free vote on the HST, says CUPE BC President Barry O’Neill.

“This campaign was able to do what almost no one thought possible and the chief justice recognized the magnitude of that accomplishment in his ruling,” said O’Neill. “Premier Campbell now needs to do the right thing – respect the clear will of British Columbians and allow MLAs from all parties to actually vote on whether the HST is the right thing to do. And if the Liberals have the courage of their convictions, then they should make it a free vote so that British Columbians can see which elected officials truly have their interests at heart.”

“In the meantime, if Mr. Campbell won’t respect the democratic will of the people, the interim Chief Electoral Officer no longer has any legal impediment to forward the initiative to the legislative committee. He should do so immediately, and the committee should meet at the earliest possible opportunity to take the next steps: either putting the legislation before MLAs for debate or a province-wide referendum,” said O’Neill.

O’Neill encouraged CUPE BC members and other opponents of the HST to write to their BC Liberal MLA to demand the government recall the legislature to debate the HST.
 

For more information, contact: 

Barry O’Neill
CUPE BC president
cell: (604) 340-6768

Clay Suddaby
CUPE Communications
Cell: (604) 313-1138

Home / Corporations / Compass

Aug 20, 2010 01:11 PM

Precedent ends years of secrecy ended for multi-million dollar details between government and Compass, Sodexo and K-Bro for hospital support services

In mid-August, B.C.’s Information and Privacy Commissioner handed down an important decision that forces the B.C. government and its health authorities to make public uncensored versions of commercial contracts with private corporations like Compass, Sodexo and K-Bro Linen Systems that provide privatized support services at B.C. health care facilities.

The ruling came after a long freedom of information battle waged by CUPE’s health services division in B.C., the Hospital Employees’ Union (HEU).

HEU says the ruling should create a higher standard of accountability to the public and more insights into the true costs of the B.C. Liberal government’s controversial privatization policies.
 

• Read more about HEU’s comments on the outcome

• Read the decision of B.C. Information and Privacy Commissioner

Thousands of health care support jobs have been privatized in B.C. since 2002 after the B.C. government broke the law by tearing up signed collective agreements to eliminate job security provisions for health care workers.

Home / Bargaining / Settlements

Aug 20, 2010 11:29 AM

Thousands of CUPE members working at hospitals in Ontario moved one step closer to sharing in millions of dollars of gains made in the 1990s when the insurance company that provided their disability income plan changed its corporate structure.

Earlier this week an Ontario Superior court judge certified the efforts of health care workers to share in the proceeds as a “class proceeding” and approved the terms of settlement reached in July by CUPE along with four other unions and the Ontario Hospital Association.

• To find out more about these developments, go to the Ontario Council of Hospital Unions website.
• Read the July 6 article entitled CUPE members benefit from hospital disability insurance plan settlement.

Home / Communications Branch

Aug 19, 2010 12:59 PM

Public water was a hot item at Justice Rocks open-air music festival held in Vancouver on August 15. The event in Strathcona Park brought together six leading social and environmental change organizations and on one of the hottest days of summer, CUPE’s booth was one of the most popular.

CUPE 1004 members and the City of Vancouver provided portable fountain and water. Festival-goers appreciated receiving stainless steel water bottles and being able to fill them, on the spot, with delicious municipal water. 

Members from each of the sponsoring locals staffed CUPE’s booth. The booth was popular with the crowd and appreciated the organic B.C. grown plums, public services colouring books, Frisbees, shopping bags and information handouts. Some of the positive feedback CUPE received included comments such as “CUPE is my hero” and “CUPE rocks”.

Sara Kendall, festival emcee, spoke about CUPE campaigns like Water Watch and the work CUPE members do to raise awareness about the risk of privatizing water. She also talked about the challenges and effects of cutbacks and lack of funding for education and public services, as seen by frontline workers.

Pivot Legal Society hosted the third annual festival with CUPE as the major sponsor. The event featured youth hip hop, break-dancers, and local musical acts including the Carnegie Community Centre Jazz Band, Maria in the Shower and En Karma.

Locals 15, 389, 391, 1004 and 1936, as well as CUPE Metro, CUPE BC and CUPE National provided prizes. The Justice Rocks festival was a fun day and a great opportunity to build relationships and connections with people from other communities.

Home / Education

Aug 17, 2010 11:53 AM

WINDSOR, ON – Local 1358.2 of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) reached a ground-breaking agreement last week with the Windsor-Essex Catholic District Catholic School Board (WECDSB) that will help ensure a successful rollout of the new early learning program (ELP) in September.

“We are very excited to have concluded this important step to making early learning a reality in Windsor,” said Pat Holland, President CUPE Local 1358.

The letter of agreement incorporates the terms of the recently negotiated Provincial Discussion Table (PDT) agreement between the Province, school boards and the unions which represent the bulk of Ontario’s school board staff. The PDT agreement has now been incorporated into the current collective agreement between WECDSB and CUPE, and will be in effect until 2012.

“When school begins next month, parents can know that the early learning professionals this agreement covers will be focused on making early learning a success at WECDSB by providing their children with the best possible education,” said Holland

Among other things, the agreement provides a framework for the orderly placement of early childhood educators (ECEs) into the board’s existing collective agreement, as well as establishing the role ECEs will play in the classroom.

For more information, contact:

Pat Holland, president CUPE Local 1358
Tel: (519) 253-8669

Kevin Wilson
CUPE Communications
Cell: (416) 821-6641

Home / LGBTT

Aug 16, 2010 01:25 PM

On August 15, hundreds of thousands of onlookers cheered some 2,500 participants in the Pride 2010 Parade as it wound its way eastward through downtown Montreal.

The Fédération des travailleurs du Québec (FTQ) had its own contingent led by president Michel Arsenault, along with Lucie Levasseur, president of CUPE-Quebec and Line Blackburn, president of CUPE-Quebec’s Pink Triangle Committee. The celebration continued until 11 p.m. with dancing in Émilie-Gamelin Park.

Themed “Our Superheroes,” the event attracted a number of public figures, with the notable exception of the federal Conservatives who underfunded the parade for the third consecutive year. CUPE, an event partner, is still committed to building on and protecting the victories of the last few decades in the fight for the rights of LGBTTIs.

In three weeks, Quebec City Pride celebrations will take place on Labour Day weekend with a conference, cocktails, entertainment, street performers and much more.

What does LGBTTI mean?

Lesbian: A woman who is sexually attracted to other women.

Gay: A person who is sexually attracted to people of the same sex. The word is generally used to describe men.

Bisexual: A person who is sexually attracted to both men and women.

Transexual: A person who changes her or his anatomy in order to live as someone of the opposite sex.

Transgender: A person whose gender identity, gender expression or physical appearance does not meet conventional expectations of femininity or masculinity.

Intersexual: A person born with a combination of female and male anatomical features.

Home / Bargaining

Aug 14, 2010 07:05 PM

The CUPE Health Care Council and two other provider unions finally achieved a tentative agreement with the Saskatchewan Association of Health Organizations (SAHO) after nearly two years of contract negotiations.

The agreement in principle, reached around midnight, came after a long week of bargaining in both Saskatoon and Regina. The unions and SAHO signed it the evening of August 13.

The proposed settlement covers all 25,000 health care providers in the province represented by the CUPE Health Care Council, SEIU and SGEU.

The tri-union bargaining coalition did not achieve many of their bargaining goals, but they successfully defeated most of SAHO’s demands for concessions and secured modest monetary gains for members.

“We believe it is the best agreement possible given the SaskParty government’s essential services legislation which crippled our power at the table,” said CUPE Health Care Council president Gordon Campbell.

Under the legislation passed just before negotiations began, more than 80 per cent of CUPE’s health care providers were deemed essential and unable to strike.

“We’ve been forced to swallow a few chicken bones and that doesn’t feel too good,” said Campbell, but added there is a lot to be proud of.

“CUPE’s bargaining victory lies in defeating many of SAHO’s demands including the employers’ controversial proposal on multi-sites, and negotiating a far, far better deal than the employers’ so-called final offer,” he said. “That’s no small feat – one we achieved because of the membership’s support and solidarity.”

The agreement preserves seniority rights in the area of lay-offs, provides improved shift differentials and full retroactivity on the wage rates for members (including retirees and those on lay-off).

Full details of the agreement will be released once the information is shared with the membership and the ratification vote completed.

Home / Political action / Elections

Aug 13, 2010 03:07 PM

Local 4575 president seeks re-election on Alberta municipal Election Day, October 18, 2010

Success and respect for the political process has been instilled in Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) members like Therese Taschuk, Smoky Lake town councillor and Local 4575 president. Like many Albertans, Therese’s ancestry features the story of a parent or grandparent fleeing old Europe in search of human rights and democracy.

“I would say that everyone should run for public office at least once in their life,” said Taschuk. “There’s just so many things involved in the running of things, even locally. Politics are very interesting and extremely important.”

After being forced to flee Hungary in the uprising against Soviet rule in 1956, Taschuk’s father made his way to a small town in Switzerland, where he married, and little Therese was born. However, as Taschuk describes, Switzerland was not exactly friendly to a foreign-born man. Later, the family settled in Nova Scotia first, coming to Alberta later in the 1960s, where they farmed near Bellis, a hamlet in Smoky Lake County.

Therese grew up in Smoky Lake, met her husband Terry, and worked in Bellis until the closure of the school in 1997 at the behest of the Alberta government.

By that time, she was already a seasoned CUPE veteran, serving as Local president, a division executive and on the Political Action Committee, as well as numerous other committees. In 2001, she ran for the local health authority and lost narrowly. However, in 2007 she ran for town council in Smoky Lake and easily won.

“Being a CUPE member, you’re always aware of the political nature of your work,” she said. “The more you are involved in CUPE and political action, the better equipped you are to look after your members.”

Taschuk credits former national representative Ron Pilling for pushing her into the CUPE activist fold.

“In my first year we were coming up on bargaining and it was the very first meeting I ever went to,” she said. “I was a rookie and had so many questions… they were beginning to pick a bargaining committee and eventually I asked so many questions that Ron just said: ‘Why don’t you join the committee?’ I then went to my first convention and became vice-president soon after. I was hooked.”  

Although being involved municipally in Smoky Lake is nearly a full-time job, Taschuk wants her fellow CUPE members thinking about seeking public office to “go for it”. When she started out, she had very little detailed knowledge about how the town worked. Today, she works on the local and regional library boards, the regional water committee, with the Pumpkin Growers Committee, the Smoky Lake Fire Department, and with the Family and Community Support Services Committee, but

“I first ran just because I thought taxes were too high,” she laughed. “Now I know why and I’ve learned where those tax dollars go. I’ve learned about the importance of social services and community networking, all of the unpaid volunteer hours and organizations that make the life of a community great and the benefits of that.”

The biggest challenges facing Smoky Lake and the neighbouring counties are sustainability, privatization of public services, and the downloading of provincial responsibility onto the municipalities, she added.

“We’re in the midst of regional water planning that is so important to our area,” she said. “Nobody wants another Walkerton, so we need to get these public regional systems in place. We’re doing good work, but I always have the fear in the back of my mind that we will do all of this work and then the provincial government will privatize. With more CUPE members elected, that will be less likely.”

As for the father who fled Hungary, he’s a pretty proud papa. “He just said ‘Good for you! Do it and do it well,” she smiled.

Taschuk is one of six declared candidates, so far, from CUPE in Alberta seeking public office in the upcoming election on October 18, 2010.

Other CUPE members seeking election in Alberta are:

• Anne Marie Watson, Red Deer Catholic School Board, Website: http://AnneMarieWatson.ca
• Dave Loken, Edmonton City Council, Website: www.ElectLoken.com
• Dianne Wyntjes, Red Deer City Council, Website: www.DianneForRedDeer.ca
• Joyce van der Lee, Lethbridge City Council
• Tina Jardine, Edmonton Public School Board – Ward I, Website: www.TinaJardine.ca

How you can help

Visit the candidate’s Website, Facebook page or follow them on Twitter for updates.

Volunteer for these candidates, lend your personal financial support, attend a forum or put up signs.

To find out more information about running for office in your city, town, or county in Alberta, please contact legislative liaison Jeff Sloychuk at jsloychuk@cupe.ca.

Make sure you vote on October 18!

Home / Social Services / Women’s shelters

Aug 13, 2010 01:32 PM

WINNIPEG – CUPE’s Respect Campaign is honoured to support Steve Braun’s Walk for the Shelters as he walks from Winkler to Winnipeg to raise money for two women’s shelters, drawing attention to the fact that women’s shelters across Manitoba lack the funding necessary to provide adequate services to victims of domestic violence.

On August 17 at 9:00 a.m., Steve Braun will begin his 150 kilometre walk. Kathy Macdonald, president of CUPE Local 2343 and member mobilizer for the CUPE Respect Campaign, will be walking alongside Steve during part of his four-day journey which will conclude on August 21 at Memorial Park.

“I’m proud to walk alongside Steve in his quest to make people aware of just how under-funded our women’s shelters really are,” said Kathy Macdonald. “These shelters need adequate resources to provide women and children who are victims of domestic violence a safe alternative.”

CUPE Manitoba represents social services workers in women’s shelters across Manitoba. The goal of the Respect Campaign is to raise the profile of what CUPE members contribute to the people in their care and for their communities.

“In a perfect world, shelters would receive adequate funding from the provincial government and efforts like Steve’s would not be necessary,” said Kathy Macdonald. “Sadly that is not the case. I’m very impressed with the leadership Steve has shown on this issue.”

The funds raised by the Walk for the Shelters will go directly to address staff and resource shortages at the IKWE-WIDDJIITIWIN shelter in Winnipeg and Genesis House in Winkler. 

• For more information about the Walk for the Shelters or to make a donation, please visit the Walk for the Shelters website.
   

For more information, contact:

Liam Martin
Communications Representative
Tel: (204) 612-0901

Kathy Macdonald
Respect Campaign Member Mobilizer
Tel: (204) 942-0343, ext. 214

Sheree Capar & Allan Bleich
Social Service Coordinators
Tel: (204) 942-0343